Comments on: On Chart Battles And Christmas https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas Lollards in the high church of low culture Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:35:14 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 By: swanstep https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-1103750 Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:35:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-1103750 The XX’s cover of Wham’s Last Christmas is worth a listen/download:
http://soundcloud.com/youngturks/last-christmas-live-on-radio.
Happy Holidays everyone.

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By: Mark G https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-1103729 Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:17:36 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-1103729 Noooh, (ok they did use the name), but bandwagon jumpers that actually made a decent stab at a punk/dance tune

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By: Lazarus https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-1103695 Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:09:09 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-1103695 I wasn’t expecting a lot to be honest, and I wasn’t disappointed – from Dickie Valentine to the Beatles in one nimble step, and thence to Slade. There is a problem with trying to cover 60 years in an hour of course, but in that case why spend so much time on Renee and Renato, ‘Two Little Boys’ and the Military Wives song, none of which refer to Christmas at any point? Oh well, the Pops is on at 8 tonight, and it looks like a half-decent line-up. Generation X, Graham Parker, and does anyone remember The Banned? Wasn’t that the Eastenders lot?

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By: Mark G https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-1103598 Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:33:02 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-1103598 The horse that was with Rolf for the 2 little boys video, looked exactly like the horse that was with Rodd Gilbert in his “Policeman” show..

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By: Lazarus https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-1103432 Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:04:32 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-1103432 ‘The Christmas Number One Story’ starting just now on BBC2. There’ll be plenty of over-familiar material of course, but it might be worth a look, at least for the early years.

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By: crag https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-667134 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:40:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-667134 So RATM did it- ho hum.
As my friend put it “In the battle between X-Factor and Facebook to see which is the bigger modern cultural phenomenon Facebook won- and now goes on to meet Youtube in the semi-final”…
Merry Christmas everyone btw….

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By: Steve Mannion https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666949 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:11:15 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666949 I’d call it a small mercy myself :)

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By: Erithian https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666928 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:28:54 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666928 A Radio 5 listener this morning made the first nomination for the Facebook campaign next Christmas – “Bring Me Sunshine” by Morecambe and Wise. Not sure there’s a massive overlap between people who’d want that song and people who can download it, but you heard it here first!

abaffledrepublic #26 – to be fair to Cowell and Westlife, neither of which I’m remotely inclined to be fair to, once the sales pattern was established whereby records regularly entered at number one, the Christmas chart battle was irrevocably changed in that every contender was released the week before the Christmas chart! – so it wasn’t just him or them.

Pity there’s no Facebook campaign to give Cliff his 00s number one in the last possible week he can retain his number-one-every-decade record.

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By: fivelongdays https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666917 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:01:50 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666917 I’d say it’s certainly a contender for Heaviest number one – up there with “Voodoo Chile”, “Bring Your Daughter…” and “Breathe”.

“Masses Against The Classes” is a great record (and it was the last time I was really excited about a chart before yesterday), but I’m not sure I’d class it as ‘Heavy’.

Pete @ 34 – the concept of ‘rockism’, as well as being an anachronism, is also a misnomer. It’s usually ROCK that gets done by the stance of ‘rockism’ (witness the anti-RATM hipster snootiness).

BTW, Iron Maiden’s number one always seemed like the equivalent of a Special Award for Services to British Heavy Metal…but more of that when Tom gets to it!

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By: Pete https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666914 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:16:45 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666914 I think the interesting thing about this is that it was not done from a particularly rockist perspective. There has been little “RATM is objectively better” than X-Factor nonsense. Instead it has been thought of as funny, which in itself skews an odd perspective in Killing In The Name of. Its not supposed to be a funny song (and isn’t) but juxtaposing it with number one is worth a smile. If it raises, or changes, next years X-Factor game than all for the good. And it will empower hundreds of other failed chart grabs in the next year which in itself could be quite funny (the failure that is – though I would love to see someone baiting Comic Relief in a similar way).

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By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666885 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:31:40 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666885 Yes I had just thought of that – tho musically the Manics were never “heavy” exactly (they didn’t have the chops).

A CURIOUS PARALLEL THOUGH (actually even I think KITN is leagues ahead of THAT.)

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By: lonepilgrim https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666881 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:48:12 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666881 re 30 …perhaps the first UK number 1 of the millennium?

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By: Steve Mannion https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-2#comment-666880 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:59:55 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666880 ‘Setting Sun’ might be heavier (and shriller). The Maiden song was typical them but probably not their heaviest.

Pleasantly surprised that this actually worked – tho hoping it doesn’t lead to repeated attempts at other times of year. I would just like the battles to involve better (and newer/more original) songs.

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By: swanstep https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666879 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:45:42 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666879 Ok, so is KITNO the ‘heaviest’ UK #1 ever? Iron Maiden had a #1 in the early ’90s, but I don’t know the song. Hendrix? Any other contenders? Prodigy? If we gave the bunny a few days off, could any heaviosity experts opine? Oh, and happy holidays everyone!

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By: lonepilgrim https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666872 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:48:26 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666872 re 25 & 27 – fear not – Andrew WK does contribute to this festive remake:

http://pitchfork.com/news/37335-fucked-ups-all-star-charity-benefit-single-available-now/

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By: fivelongdays https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666867 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:46:19 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666867 That’s a big spunking cock on Mr Cowell’s whiteboard, drawn in permanent marker.

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By: fivelongdays https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666785 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:29:25 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666785 Tom @ 25 – Oh. God. Yes.

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By: abaffledrepublic https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666760 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:23:42 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666760 Besides Blur/Oasis and Spiller/Posh, there was also the chart battle which saw Westlife (another Cowell signing) lose out to Bob the Builder for that year’s Christmas No1. Cowell’s way of doing things hasn’t changed, his group’s release being timed to enter the Christmas chart at the top, as most singles did in the immediate pre-downloading era, and in the same arrogant expectation that it would have a clear run. As far as I can remember, Bob’s single was already in the chart, and actually climbed to the top, holding off Westlife in the process. Just as some of those downloading RATM will be doing so to spite Cowell, so I’m sure people who bought Bob (for their little niece, natch) did so to stop the Westlife procession.

#18: Cowell’s rise from record company suit to media star seems to be part of the wider trend of the lionisation of businessmen and the worship of money-making. Ten years ago, could anybody have named the head of Topshop? Nowadays he gets to squire Kate Moss around the gossip columns. They get TV series which fan their egos by showing them as all-powerful, bold and swashbuckling, yet at the same time prudent and with their eyes on the bottom line. They also get TV series designed to show what caring, sharing generous guys they are. As though any of that stops them from being utterly charmless bores. Why can’t they just piss off and count their money?

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By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666624 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:33:15 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666624 Andrew WK would make a really good version of The Climb :(

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By: fivelongdays https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666621 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:42:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666621 Tommy – what Erithian said.

Crag – fair point, there has to be summat from the world of ROCK! that’s worthy from this decade. Personally, I would suggest “Party Hard” by Andrew W.K. (my single/track of the noughties) but then again, I am a bit strange!

Jeff W – from what I can recall, “Chocolate Salty Balls” got to number one the week after, which meant everyone won. Erm, possibly.

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By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666581 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:36:51 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666581 Yes Cowell has handled all this REALLY badly. I think it’s rattled him, not because he’s not used to people disliking him, but because it’s intensely irritating for him not to be able to use that dislike.

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By: Erithian https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666579 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:30:48 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666579 “Cowell is the bossy, fuddy music teacher telling us not to do it like that because it’s not the proper way and KitNO for Xmas #1 will be a nice big spunking cock drawn on his blackboard.”

Tommy – that is why I love this site! Your words will be quoted for years to come (by me anyway) – bravo!

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By: koganbot https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666575 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:00:08 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666575 I like Crag’s post a lot, except that where X-Factor and Idol excel is in personality – even if it’s the winner’s stage personality more than the winner’s track’s musical personality that’s driving the purchases. The phrase “piss off Simon Cowell” is telling, since the man is neither polite nor personality-free by a long shot. But – though I’m not in a position to know – Crag seems on the money in regard to the malaise that underlies the RATM campaign.

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By: crag https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666543 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:52:23 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666543 The idea to prevent another apparently “inevitable” X-factor xmas #1 and piss off Simon Cowell is entirely reasonable. Attempting to do it with a track that, on the surface at least, appears the exact opposite of what Cowell provides- noisy, political and passionate as opposed to polished, polite and personality-free- makes a kind of sense too. The thing that depresses me about it all is that the chosen track is 17 years old- as if there was nothing that fitted the bill made in the last decade, never mind the last few months. If RATM get to the top this weekend i’ll personally see it less as the victory of “real music” over “manufactured music” that the campaigns supporters seem to view it as and more as and an acknowledgement of the (supposedly)poor state of the current music scene artistically- a admission of defeat that things were better in the “old days”, the equivelant of “Last Christmas” being reeled out in ’99 to prevent “Millenium Prayer” reaching the top.
When pop musicians and the pop music buying public are told this so much that they start to believe it it can have a postive result such as the “no Elvis, No Beatles, No Stones” Year Zero approach of punk but it can also cause a feeling of mailaise, a sense of “why bother?”-definitely not an attitude that prompts great music being made.I remember a similar mood being prevalant in the mid80s being covered in Popular right now and sullies the entire period in my memories.

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By: jeff w https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666516 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:44:13 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666516 I read this online yesterday re RATM v Joe: “The last big Christmas battle anywhere near this scale was Spice Girls ‘Goodbye’ vs Chef’s ‘Chocolate Salty Balls’ in 1998, when Spice Girls won out with 380,000 sales vs 375,000.”

(Not sure what the source is, sorry. Not sure if I could describe the demographic of the sides in that particular battle either! Anyway, I was a neutral.)

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By: Tommy Mack https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666510 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:02:42 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666510 I have to say I thought the RATM internet campaign was a pissy bit of teenage alterno-petulance akin to the bottling of Daphne and Celeste* UNTIL I read how much it had pissed off Simon Cowell. Now I’m almost tempted to buy a copy.

(*except that seemed more like a big in-joke between D&C and ver kidz, taken seriously by pissy-pants NME hacks)

Chewing gum is disgusting and gives you stomach ulcers, but kids all chew it because it’s against school rules. Cowell is the bossy, fuddy music teacher telling us not to do it like that because it’s not the proper way and KitNO for Xmas #1 will be a nice big spunking cock drawn on his blackboard.

I think what a lot of people hate about the X factor and it’s ilk is that it’s stuck the ugly machinations of the music industry to the fore – once men like Cowell would have been content to lurk in the shadows counting their billions while sticking someone pretty and/or talented up front. Now Cowell and his ilk are rockstars in their own right. And why? Because they’re powerful. Powerful in the most unglamorous, pragmatic, businesslike way. And there seems something a bit depressing about that.

Stacy should have won.

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By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666506 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:37:40 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666506 And great point on the 50s Erithian. I think what I’m getting at more is that the idea of what a “chart battle” is has changed over the years:

– two competing versions of the same song
– a general sense of rivalry over time
– head-to-head win or lose within a specific week’s chart

The Xmas No.1 has always had the possibility of being the third kind of “battle”, but it wasn’t until the 90s that head-to-head races could extend to the rest of the year.

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By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666505 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:34:42 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666505 I have now heard about the Gary Jules – Soham Trial theory twice in a week – I certainly didn’t link the two at the time I must admit. I am a little bit sceptical: after all when the search and murder were dominating headlines the year before, the nation responded by sending Darius to the top.

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By: Erithian https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666501 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:29:50 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666501 I think you’re wrong about the antiquity of the term “chart battle” – I’m sure that phrase or something very similar* was used on the many occasions in the 50s and 60s when different versions, usually US v UK, of the same song would race each other up the chart. In those days, of course, sales and chart placings displayed more conventional curves over a period, as opposed to the all-or-nothing, one week battle it later became when sales habitually peaked in the first week. Sometimes both versions would take turns at number one (Guy Mitchell and Tommy Steele), usually one or other would have a clear win, but often you’d get both versions in the top ten at once.

*Certainly Jimmy Savile would use it on the Old Record Club many years later!

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By: MikeMCSG https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666492 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:16:54 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666492 Tom, what exactly is that physical percentage now ? You’re right that it is a more recent phenomenon borne out of a media and business studies generation that always needs to flag up marketing strategies. The first time I remember any hype around it was 1989 when there was a lot of betting on an absolutely terrible record by Lionel Bart called “Happy Endings” (featured in a building society advert) which thankfully barely made the Top 75.

Another interesting failure came ten years earlier when Squeeze’s “Christmas Day” didn’t chart just months after successive no 2’s with “Cool For Cats” and “Up The Junction”. It has to be said it wasn’t a great record with some very uncomfortable shifts in tempo but you would have expected it to break cover at least. Someone on youtube suggested it had been banned-does anyone remember that for sure ?

The Gary Jules record was interesting because it had been on the soundtrack album and played on the radio for months- was there a conscious decision to release it at Christmas time ? I also think it was helped to the top by the heavy media coverage of the Soham trial putting everyone in a sombre mood just before Christmas.

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By: fivelongdays https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666489 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:23:27 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666489 Nothing much I can add to this other than ‘well said’.

Tom, you’re one of the best – if not THE best – music writers in Britain today. Thank you :-)

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By: Billy Smart https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666409 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:37:53 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666409 Westlife, but then Nizlopi were then beaten in turn by Shayne Ward (‘That’s My Goal’) – three unappetising singles. Of course, there’s always the doctrinal argument that the Christmas number one is what people are buying in Christmas week, not what’s number one on Christmas day… But most people are probably too impatient to appreciate that distinction.

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By: byebyepride https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666399 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:35:48 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666399 What was Nizlopi up against? How soon we forget…

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By: thefatgit https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666390 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:08:01 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666390 Paddy Power has apparently shortened the odds on The Muppets’ Bo Rhap!?!?

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By: wichita lineman https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666377 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:45:35 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666377 re 6 That should be CHRISTIAN rhymes of course…

I wish it was Bob Dylan’s Must Be Santa that was the opposition to Joe McThing, then i’d happily buy a few ‘copies’

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By: anatol_merklich https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666371 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:52:53 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666371 This will probably be known to all the internet in a matter of hours, but why not help it along, things don’t go viral of themselves you know, some genius somewhere has constructed
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE —-anag—-> GATECRASH INANE MEGAHIT

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By: Lex https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666369 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:49:25 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666369 I’ve always thought of the Xmas No 1 being the one week in the year where I really DIDN’T care about No 1 – nearly all the contenders for it are dreadful every year. Including this one.

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By: wichita lineman https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666365 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:18:39 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666365 Jeepster vs Ernie in ’71? Marc B was very big on Christmas – see his ace xmas flexi message, free with Jackie iirc – and must have felt pretty miffed. My great grandmother helped Benny Hill’s cause by buying Ernie for me, the first record I ever owned apart from a Pinky & Perky EP and hand-me-down 78s. I was unaware of any chart battle, being six-years old at the time.

Neither were what you’d call Christmas rhymes either. The raciest Xmas chart race?

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By: Steve Mannion https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666359 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:22:43 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666359 I was sort of hoping it would be Madonna’s ‘Justify My Love’ that year – the more inappropriate the better (only good thing about the RATM choice I guess).

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By: Glue Factory https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666350 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:15:52 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666350 I was rooting for the Farm’s Altogether Now back in 1990 over Cliff, Vanilla Ice, etc, hoping it would provide a suitably baggy end to the year of the Mondays and Roses.

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By: Billy Smart https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666347 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:45:34 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666347 1988’s Cliff Vs Kylie & Jason battle felt like a clash between two ways of doing business (EMI pitted against lone Thatcherite entrepreneur) and two generations of pop. Neither disc was looked upon with anything but derision by my peers, but both are actually rather splendid, I think. But more of this anon…

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By: mark sinker https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666346 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:27:29 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666346 the grandaddy of the refusenik deconstruction of obligatory wobs cheer is of course that chief among dysphorians mr GREG LAKE

the battle is allegorically depicted here

xx yr pal sukrat ON BEHALF OF the machine

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By: Stevie https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/12/on-chart-battles-and-christmas/comment-page-1#comment-666339 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:13:59 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=16593#comment-666339 Frankie vs Wham!, resolved by the Xmas truce of Band Aid, was an 80s new pop battle, surely? Certainly the whole rhetoric of ZTT was about going into battle for the charts.

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